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Hezbollah Has Violated a Major UN Resolution Since October — and No One Cares
Members of the United Nations Security Council meet on the day of a vote on a Gaza resolution that demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan leading to a permanent ceasefire, and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages, at UN headquarters in New York City, US, March 25, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Andrew Kelly
Following the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1701, at the time perceived as a strongly worded document.
It was aimed at not just maintaining the ceasefire, but at strengthening the hands of the government in Beirut by endorsing and calling for the central government to assert control over the entire country.
However, for the most part, Resolution 1701 has reflected the toothless inability of the international body to take those words and effectively implement them on the ground.
The 2006 war was not between two countries, but between Israel and the terrorist Hezbollah organization, headed by Hassan Nasrallah.
Hezbollah is funded, trained, and armed by Iran. The terrorist group is not under the control of the Lebanese government and is not part of the Lebanese Armed Forces, and thus considers itself not obligated at all to the document. Its terrorist activities have been documented for years.
Resolution 1701: In Its Own Words
Two paragraphs in the UNSC resolution appeared to have been directly aimed at Hezbollah [emphasis added]:
“security arrangements to prevent the resumption of hostilities, including the establishment between the Blue Line and the Litani river of an area free of any armed personnel, assets and weapons other than those of the Government of Lebanon and of UNIFIL …”
“full implementation of the relevant provisions of the Taif Accords, and of (UNSC) resolutions 1559 (2004) and 1680 (2006), that require the disarmament of all armed groups in Lebanon, so that, pursuant to the Lebanese cabinet decision of 27 July 2006, there will be no weapons or authority in Lebanon other than that of the Lebanese State.”
In short, Resolution 1701 calls for the disarming of Hezbollah and the deployment of the Lebanese army to exert sovereignty — especially in the south of the country along the Lebanon-Israel border. That area is monitored by UNIFIL, the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon, which is tasked with monitoring the area, and whose heavy presence was intended to dissuade militias.
Resolution 1701: The Shortcomings
In practice, the Resolution proved to be toothless. At the time, experts at the respected Institute for National Security Studies (INSS) in Tel Aviv concluded that Resolution 1701 “provides no effective mechanism for action to disarm Hezbollah or terminate its existence as a state within a state.”
Analyst Aiman Mansour noted that Hezbollah and Nasrallah were not affected by 1701, which created “a situation in which Lebanon after the campaign is little different from Lebanon before it … it does not create any framework that can threaten Hezbollah’s existence or ongoing terrorist activity.”
Thirteen years after Resolution 1701 was passed, Hezbollah is not only armed, but its weapons inventory has been greatly increased and it remains fully deployed south of the Litani River — as if the UN Security Council Resolution never happened.
Estimates put Hezbollah’s rocket and missile inventory at more than 130,000 — enough to theoretically fire 1,000 rockets a day at Israel for more than four months straight.
Iran’s Covert Scheme to Upgrade Hezbollah’s Rocket Arsenal Revealedhttps://t.co/C785TvrTkz pic.twitter.com/O6KiNGJRRi
— Haaretz.com (@haaretzcom) February 28, 2019
UNIFIL was created in 1978, ostensibly to help the Lebanese government assert sovereignty over the south of the country that had been controlled by armed militias. The UN forks out almost half a billion dollars annually to operate the peacekeeping force. As of August 2019, UNIFIL consisted of 10,277 peacekeepers from 44 troop-contributing countries, while Hezbollah is estimated to have 21,000 active fighters.
Powerless Peacekeepers
Since 2006, the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF) has deployed units in the south, but military control of the area is firmly in Hezbollah’s grasp.
Hezbollah operates under UNIFIL’s nose and it is the de facto force controlling the area along the entire length of the Lebanon-Israel border. Indeed, bright yellow Hezbollah flags dominate over the Lebanese national flag.
Aside from a number of cross-border missile and gunfire skirmishes, as well as the Hezbollah attack that sparked the 2006 war, the most blatant example of UNIFIL’s weakness was the numerous cross border attack tunnels dug by Hezbollah into Israeli territory. The goal of the tunnels, which were revealed in 2018, was to wreak havoc in Israel: capture and kill Israeli civilians and soldiers, and yet somehow avoid an all-out war which would be catastrophic to Lebanon and damaging to Israel (though that calculus may have changed after October 7).
Although UNIFIL recognized that the tunnels were a “violation of the cease-fire agreement,” the UN peacekeepers were powerless to take any action.
“UNIFIL’s insistent requests to the Lebanese authorities to take immediate further action in this regard were left unanswered, and UNIFIL’s access to the site continues to be prevented by the Lebanese Armed Forces, despite repeated requests,” the Security Council said in a report afterwards.
UNIFIL peacekeepers patrolling in Southern Lebanon.
The UN is generally known for its patience, with diplomats doing their jobs to negotiate, seek compromise, and work towards consensus-oriented solutions. However, that patience sometimes wears thin, especially when the United States is involved.
At the annual renewal of UNIFIL’s mandate in 2019, the US delegation voted with the other UNSC members to keep UNIFIL going for another year, but noted that UNIFIL has been prevented from accessing Hezbollah’s tunnels.
“Given that UNIFIL cannot fulfill a task within its mandate, it’s time to re-examine the Force’s troop strength and resource efficiency,” the Americans said.
Lebanese Frustration
Frustration with Resolution 1701 is also apparent with some parties inside Lebanon, whose fractious and fragile government coalition of Sunnis, Shiites, Christians, and Druze has been unable to reign in Lebanese militias — most notably Hezbollah and Nasrallah — to fulfill the resolution’s mandate “that there will be no weapons without the consent of the Government of Lebanon and no authority other than that of the Government of Lebanon.”
“Resolution 1701 has not been respected since 2006 and is being violated on a daily basis, whether by Israel, through its air and sea breaches of Lebanese sovereignty, or by Hezbollah, and its claim that it is charged, alone, with the task of defending Lebanon,” said retired Lebanese Brig. Gen. Khaled Hamade, the former director the Strategic Research & Studies Centre of the Lebanese Armed Forces.
Since then, Hezbollah has become so powerful, that Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri admitted that Lebanon can’t rein in Hezbollah and disavowed responsibility. The dangers inherent in the failure to implement the provisions of UN Security Council Resolution 1701 are obvious. Hezbollah, a recognized terrorist organization, continues to be armed and directed by Iran. There is no international pressure to force Hezbollah to drop its policy of being a state-within-a-state, with its own large, dangerously-armed private army.
Despite its positive-sounding intentions, Resolution 1701 is an abject failure. Hezbollah has no incentive to change its central ideologies and policies, which mimic Iran’s repeatedly stated national goal for the “full annihilation of Israel.”
Paul Shindman has a long career in both journalism and high-tech in Israel, most recently serving as head of research and content for The Israel Project. He rose to the position of Bureau Chief in charge of operations for United Press International in Jerusalem, and has done production work for TV news networks as well as stringing and blogging for various newspapers, magazines, and websites. With a background in engineering and computing Paul worked at Israeli tech companies ranging from startups to multi-nationals. His first job in Israel was working at Israel’s first ice skating rinks and he is the founder of Israel’s national ice sports associations.
The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.
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Trump Nominates Marco Rubio for US Secretary of State
US Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, Sept. 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
US President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday confirmed that he will nominate Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) to serve as secretary of state in his incoming administration, a potential signal that the next White House will take a more adversarial posture toward Iran.
Trump’s confirmation came a couple days after several media outlets reported that he was expected to tap Rubio, 53, to head the US State Department. The move to place a lawmaker known for his hawkish foreign policy views as the nation’s top diplomat has mollified concerns among some critics that the second Trump administration would adopt a more isolationist approach to international affairs.
“Marco is a Highly Respected Leader, and a very powerful Voice for Freedom. He will be a strong Advocate for our Nation, a true friend to our Allies, and a fearless Warrior who will never back down to our adversaries,” Trump said in an official statement. “I look forward to working with Marco to Make America, and the World, Safe and Great Again!”
Rubio issued a brief statement advocating an approach of “peace through strength” to international relations.
“As Secretary of State, I will work every day to carry out his foreign policy agenda. Under the leadership of President Trump we will deliver peace through strength and always put the interests of Americans and America above all else,” Rubio said on X/Twitter.
Since his election to the Senate in 2010, Rubio has developed a reputation as a foreign policy hawk, advocating for greater investments in the US military and a tougher approach to adversaries such as Iran, China, Cuba, and Venezuela.
Rubio’s policy views have previously resulted in conflict with more isolationist members of the Republican Party, who have argued that the US should step back from international conflicts and increase focus on domestic issues.
The selection of Rubio also indicates the incoming Trump administration will be diplomatically supportive of Israel.
In the year following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7, Rubio has steadfastly signaled his support for the Jewish state, resisting calls for a ceasefire in Gaza and underscoring the importance of Israel achieving a decisive win against Hamas.
He stated in October 2023 that Israel has “no choice but to seek the complete eradication of Hamas in Gaza,” adding that “this tragically necessary effort will come at a horrifying price” and that “the price of failing to permanently eliminate this group of sadistic savages is even more horrifying.”
In May 2024, the senator cautioned that the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah, the Iran-backed terrorist organization in Lebanon, could soon break out into full-scale war.
“The imperative that Israel has at some point to address it, even though there’s a real threat there of a full-scale war with Hezbollah, which militarily is a lot more challenging and destructive,” Rubio said.
Last month, Rubio condemned Iran’s direct attack against Israel after the Iranian regime fired a barrage of nearly 200 ballistic missiles at the Jewish state.
“I urge the reimposition of a maximum pressure campaign against Iran and fully support Israel’s right to respond disproportionately to stop this threat. The United States will continue to stand with Israel,” Rubio said in a statement.
Rubio has also assigned blame to Iran for fomenting instability and chaos in the Middle East, adding that the regime has also acted as the “primary” oppressor of its own civilians.
“The primary source of violence, conflict, suffering, and instability in the Middle East is the criminal ‘Islamic Republic’ regime which has also oppressed the people of [Iran] for almost [45] years,” Rubio said on X/Twitter.
Beyond Rubio, Trump has also handpicked other administration members with pro-Israel bonafides. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), a lawmaker who has gone viral for her blistering repudiations of university presidents over their response campus antisemitism, has been selected to serve as ambassador to the United Nations. Trump also selected Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) to serve as his next national security adviser.
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Trump’s Top National Security Picks Have Expressed Strongly Pro-Israel, Anti-Iran Views
US President Donald Trump is interviewed by then-Fox and Friends co-host Pete Hegseth at the White House in Washington, US, April 6, 2017. Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque
US President-elect Donald Trump’s selections for national security adviser and defense secretary have a history of making statements in support of Israel’s right to defend itself from neighboring threats.
In the week following his resounding victory at the polls, Trump has swiftly moved to fill his incoming cabinet with allies of Israel.
Among his top national security picks, the president-elect has chosen US. Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL) to serve as his national security adviser and nominated Fox News host and Army National Guard officer Pete Hegseth as the next secretary of defense.
Waltz, a Green Beret and former Pentagon policy adviser, has developed a hawkish reputation on foreign policy matters. He supported Israel’s retaliatory strikes against Iran in October, arguing that the Jewish state should target Kharg Island, a major hub of the regime’s oil exports. The representative also suggested that Israel attack Iran’s nuclear facilities outside of Tehran. The lawmaker has openly criticized the Biden administration for allegedly holding Israel back from a full force retaliation against Iran.
Waltz has also argued that the US should attempt to weaken Iran through sanctioning the Chinese buyers of Iranian oil, saying that isolating Iran economically would cripple their ability to finance the operations of terrorist groups such as Hamas, the Houthis, and Hezbollah. He has also helped spearhead bipartisan efforts to recategorize the Houthis in Yemen as an official international terrorist organization, a move that he argues would isolate the group by making financial transactions with them illegal.
On Tuesday, Trump raised eyebrows by tapping Hegseth to head the Pentagon. Hegseth, a former infantry officer in the Army National Guard deployed to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, has repeatedly expressed affinity for Israel. Hegseth, a devout Christian, argued on television that Jews have a right to live in Israel on Biblical grounds. In his 2020 book, American Crusade, Our Fight to Stay Free, he stated that Israel is “central to the story of Western civilization” and that the Jewish state is “inextricably linked” to America.
“If you love America, you should love Israel. We share history, we share faith, and we share freedom. We love free people, free expression, and free markets,” he wrote. “And whereas America is blessed with two big, beautiful oceans to protect it, Israel is surrounded on all sides by countries that either used to seek, or still seek, to wipe the nation off the map.”
During a 2016 trip to Israel, Hegseth said that he was “struck by the pervasive sense of purpose which permeates Israel and its people who understand the special nature of its founding and defense.” He also said that America can “learn from Israel” and that the Jewish state “is indispensable for the future of the West and human freedom.”
Following the 2020 killing of Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, who headed the Quds Force responsible for overseeing Iran’s proxies and terrorist operations abroad, Hegseth urged then-President Trump to bomb Iran’s nuclear production facilities.
“I happen to believe that we can’t kick the can down the road any longer in trying to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear bomb. They used the killing of Soleimani as an excuse to say ‘we’re scrapping the Iran Deal.’ We all know they were scrapping it anyway,” Hegseth said on Fox News, adding that America should notify Iran of its plans to destroy its “nuclear production facilities,” “key infrastructure,” “missile sites,” and “port capabilities.”
Hegseth also argued that attempts to restrain Israel from direct confrontation with Iran are “ridiculous” and that the Islamic regime represents an “existential threat” to the Jewish state.
“Israel wants to deal with Iran, we should let them … If it was not for Israel, Iran would have had the bomb already,” he said.
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American Jewish Organizations React to Trump’s Choice for US Ambassador to Israel
Mike Huckabee looks on as Donald Trump reacts during a campaign event at the Drexelbrook Catering and Event Center, in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, US, Oct. 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
American Jewish organizations were quick to react to US President-elect Donald Trump’s announcement that he would choose former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee to be the next US ambassador to Israel after he assumes office in January.
“Mike has been a great public servant, governor, and leader in faith for many years. He loves Israel, and the people of Israel, and likewise, the people of Israel love him. Mike will work tirelessly to bring about peace in the Middle East!” Trump wrote in his announcement.
Huckabee, an evangelical Christian, has long been a vocal pro-Israel voice. He has repudiated the anti-Israel protests that erupted in the wake of Hamas’s massacre across southern Israel last Oct. 7 and criticized incumbent US President Joe Biden for sympathizing with anti-Israel protesters during his speech at the 2024 Democratic National Convention (DNC). The incoming ambassador also lambasted the anti-Israel encampments at elite universities, stating that there should be “outrage” over the targeting and mistreatment of Jewish college students.
Ted Deutch, the CEO of the American Jewish Committee (AJC), posted on X on Tuesday that his organization “looks forward to working with Gov. Huckabee and newly appointed Special Envoy for the Middle East Steven Witkoff to strengthen the US-Israel relationship, bolster Israel-diaspora relations, and promote strong connections between American Jewry and Israel.”
Other Jewish communal organizations, such as the Jewish Federations of North America and the Anti-Defamation League, have so far not made statements.
The Republican Jewish Committee (RJC) said it was “thrilled” with the choice. “As a man of deep faith,” the RJC wrote, “we know Governor Huckabee’s abounding love of Israel and its people is second to none.”
It continued, “As the Jewish state continues to fight an existential war for survival against Iran and its terrorist proxies, Governor Huckabee will represent America’s ironclad commitment to Israel’s security with distinction.”
On the other side, however, the Jewish Democratic Council of America (JDCA) called Huckabee “utterly unqualified for this role” and argued that “his extremist views with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will not further the national security interests of the United States or advance prospects for peace between Israelis and Palestinians.”
Huckabee told Israel’s Army Radio in his first interview since the announcement of his ambassadorship that “of course” the annexation of the West Bank is a possibility during Trump’s second presidential term.
“Unfortunately, when it comes to the US-Israel relationship,” the JDCA concluded, “Donald Trump will continue to only be motivated by his own narrow self-interest, and we’re deeply concerned about what that means for the United States and Israel.”
J Street also opposed the choice, writing in a statement that “Huckabee, a right-wing, evangelical minister with a long history of championing settlement expansion, annexation, and a radical ‘Greater Israel’ agenda, holds principles and espouses views that — if now implemented — would shatter the foundations on which a healthy and strong US-Israel relationship has been built over the past 75 years.”
J Street on Monday urged the Biden administration to withhold offensive weapons from Israel as part of a partial arms embargo, arguing that the United States needs to hold Israel accountable for alleged human rights “violations” before Trump takes office.
Huckabee has taken positions on the Israel-Palestinian conflict considered further to the right than most American Jews and politicians. The former governor has defended Israel’s right to build settlements in the West Bank, acknowledging the Jewish people’s ties to the land dating back to the ancient world.
“There is no such thing as the West Bank — it’s Judea and Samaria,” Huckabee has said, referring to the biblical names for the area. “There is no such thing as settlements — they’re communities, they’re neighborhoods, they’re cities. There is no such thing as an occupation.”
Huckabee has also argued, including during his 2008 US presidential campaign, that any future Palestinian state should be created from land in Arab countries, rather than from territory that Israel captured in 1967 during the Six-Day War.
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